


Caught Fire

by isnonstop



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Other, Pining, Self-Esteem Issues, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-28
Updated: 2018-02-28
Packaged: 2019-03-25 07:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13828977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/isnonstop/pseuds/isnonstop
Summary: "Love is friendship that has caught fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses."-Ann LandersJohn has had a crush on his best friend and roommate Alexander for a while. He was learning to deal with that and move on. Of course that all goes to hell when he drunkenly sleeps with Alexander and his girlfriend.





	Caught Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _“What're you doing?” John asked, breathless already from the simple kiss and light touch._
> 
> _“Come join us,” Alex whispered, voice only slightly slurred._
> 
> _“What?” John’s eyes widened a bit._

The first time it happened John was drunk. Completely and totally wasted. Thankfully Alex and Eliza were also very drunk. They stumbled back to Alex and John’s apartment, Alex’s arm slung over John’s shoulder and hand resting on the small of Eliza’s back. He was still ranting loudly about whatever it was that Jefferson did to set him off earlier that night. John had long since lost the plot of Alex’s enraged speech but he continued to nod along, indulging his best friend (secret and completely unrequited crush). Eliza was giggling softly on Alex’s other side, periodically pressing kisses to his jaw to try and derail his speech. It only worked about half the time. John got the door open and the trio stumbled in. As soon as the door was shut Eliza pushed Alexander against it, kissing him to make him finally shut up. Alex moaned into the kiss, tangling a hand in her hair and pulling her closer. John couldn't help but stare for a moment, longing curling in the pit of his stomach. When Eliza broke the kiss to nip at Alex’s neck, making the man keen in pleasure, John had to look away, dropping his keys into the bowl by the door and heading into the kitchen. John was drinking a glass of water when he felt hands resting on his hips, followed by someone leaning in and pressing a kiss to the back of his neck. John shivered, lowering be glass to the counter and turning around. Alexander was grinning at him, eyes alight with mischief and desire. 

“What're you doing?” John asked, breathless already from the simple kiss and light touch. 

“Come join us,” Alex whispered, voice only slightly slurred. 

“What?” John’s eyes widened a bit. 

“Come join us,” Alex repeated, resting a hand on the center of John’s chest. He leaned in, breath ghosting over John’s lips as he whispered, “I want you to fuck me.”

“Eliza-”

“Eliza wants it too,” Alex’s hand moved up over John’s chest, cupping the side of his neck and kissing him gently. John all but melted under his touch, tangling a hand in Alex’s loose hair and pulling him close. 

“Okay,” John whispered, knowing somewhere in the back of his mind that this was a terrible, awful, no good idea. He didn’t care. He knew that he would never get more of Alexander than this and he was willing to take whatever he could get, no matter how much it was going to hurt in the morning. Alex grinned, smile bright enough to outshine the sun, and grabbed John’s hand, dragging him down the hall to his bedroom where Eliza was waiting. 

—

John woke up to an empty bed. He could hear the shower running and Alex’s voice drifting down the hall from the kitchen. John groaned, sitting up and pressing a hand to his forehead. His head was pounding and his stomach was trying to revolt, churning dangerously. He sighed, glancing over at the time - eight - far too early to be awake on a Saturday where he had nothing to do. He flopped back down, rolling over and pressing his face into Alex’s pillow. It smelled like the man’s shampoo and John drifted back to sleep enveloped in that pleasant scent. 

He woke up again hours later to a completely silent apartment. He felt a bit better, head and stomach still attempting to kill him but better than before. John sat up, running his fingers through his hair and swinging his legs off the bed. He stood, grabbing his boxers on the floor and pulling them on before heading out of the bedroom. The apartment was completely silent, making John wonder if Eliza and Alex had gone out. He hoped they had, not wanting to deal with the awkward conversation about how last night was a mistake. He knew that now that Eliza and Alex were no longer drunk they'd regret last night. After all, they were happy together, a perfect match, and had no need for John coming in and ruining that. 

Thankfully, luck seemed to be on his side and the apartment was completely empty. There was a note sitting on the counter, scribbled hastily in Alex’s messy handwriting:

_Gone to lunch with Angelica. Then studying with Burr. Home late._

John sighed, crumbling up the paper before tossing it into the trash can and going to make himself something to eat, trying to savour the memory of last night, knowing he would never experience it again. 

—

John was sat on the couch reading through some notes from his biology lab when Alex returned that evening. It was past midnight and John was about to pack up to head to bed when the door opened. Alex came inside, looking like death had tried to take him and he was only hanging on by a single thread. Exhaustion seemed to radiate from every pore in Alex’s body, making John frown a bit. 

“Alex?” John closed his notebook, standing up and going over to his best friend. He grabbed Alex’s bag, resting it down on the floor before gently squeezing his shoulder. “You okay?”

“Hmm? Yeah, just tired,” Alex said, statement punctuated by a yawn. 

“Come on,” John kicked the door shut before dragging Alex down the hall to his bedroom. “You need to sleep.”

Alex just hummed, following him without a fight. John pushed the door open to Alex’s room, pushing the half asleep man in. He had changed the sheets on Alex’s bed earlier that day, not wanting to deal with the awkwardness of leaving it to Alex to do. The bed was made up neat and rest of the room was still the characteristic mess that Alexander left in his wake - books and sheets of paper strewn everywhere. 

“Into bed,” John said, pushing Alex down onto the mattress. He pulled off Alex’s shoes, tossing them to the side before shifting the man to lay more comfortably on the bed. “Night, Alex.”

“Night, John,” Alex mumbled, rolling over and curling up, falling asleep almost instantly. John watched him for a minute before sighing and leaving, shutting off the light and shutting the door.

\-----------

John kept waiting for Alexander or Eliza to bring up what had happened. But neither of them did. Eliza came over a couple days later, bright and cheerful as always and not a single mention of That Night on her lips. She smiled like she always did, teased Alex with John, and made dinner since neither Alex nor John were particularly good at cooking. The entire night John was waiting for the awkward conversation but it never came. And when Eliza and Alex disappeared into his bedroom at the end of the night, John couldn't help staring after them with a mix of confusion and longing. Part of him was glad neither of them brought up what had happened. And part of him wished they had invited him into their bed again. But they hadn't. And John was left in the living room alone before he finally decided to go to bed. 

Things continued to pass how they always had. John and Alex continued to be best friends, Eliza continued to come over and ensure they didn't starve. Nothing was weird between them. If anything John and Eliza became even better friends. She joked around with him more and would often curl into his side on the couch while they listened to Alex rant about this thing or that. On multiple occasions Eliza had convinced John to let her braid his hair, forcing him to sit on the floor between her legs while she gently brushed and braided his hair, telling him stories about her day and classes and the kids at the youth center where she volunteered. Two weeks after That Night, John came home to find Eliza there, laying on the couch reading something on her phone. 

“Hey, Eliza,” John said, dropping his keys into the dish. 

“Hi, John,” she looked over at him with a smile. 

“Is Alex here?” John asked, dropping his bag in the hallway before going to sit on the couch by her feet, shifting them into his lap. 

“No he's off yelling with Jefferson about something or other,” she shrugged. “James texted saying that Alex showed up at their apartment ranting about something and then Jefferson left with him. James isn't sure where they went.”

John huffed in amusement, gently massaging Eliza’s feet. She hummed in appreciation, letting her eyes drift shut. 

“How was your day?” She asked softly. 

“It was good,” he hummed, thumb pressing into the ball of her foot. “My bio lab was boring but it was an alright day. How was yours?”

“I've had better days,” she said, moaning softly in pleasure as he continued to massage her feet. “How'd you learn to do this?”

“I used to do this for my mom,” John explained softly. “When she was pregnant with my little sister Polly.”

Eliza hummed, opening her eyes slightly to look at him, “You're very good. Much better than Alexander.”

“Thanks,” John whispered, smiling slightly. 

“You'll make a great boyfriend,” she mused, eyes slipping shut again. “I should trade you for Alex. Your cock is bigger too.”

John looked over at her sharply, eyes widening in shock but Eliza didn't seem at all affected by her statement. She continued to lay there, a completely peaceful look on her face. John swallowed, looking back down at her feet as he continued massaging them, trying to push her words out of his head. 

—

Alex came home a couple hours later, full of energy and excitement. He slammed the door shut behind him before bouncing over to the couch where Eliza and John were still sat. 

“Hello, my love,” Alex said, leaning down and giving Eliza a deep kiss. 

“Hello, Alexander,” she chuckled, leaning up a bit to better kiss him. “Have fun?”

“Of course,” he smiled. “You?”

“Oh yes,” she glanced over at John, eyes sparkling. “John is excellent company. And he gives a killer foot massage.”

“You trying to steal my girlfriend, Laurens?” Alex raised an eyebrow, glancing over at his best friend. 

“Yeah totally,” John rolled his eyes, moving Eliza’s feet off his lap and standing. He was planning on going to his room to give Alex and Eliza some time alone but of course the universe was conspiring against him. Alex’s hand shot out, grabbing John’s arm and pulling him close. 

“Where’re you going?” Alex asked, eyes bright. 

“Uh, my room,” John said, frowning. “I thought you and Eliza might like some time alone.”

“I've got a much better idea,” Alex said, hand shooting out and wrapping around the back of John’s neck, pulling him in close and kissing him. John froze for a minute, entire body stiffening slightly before melting under Alex’s touch, kissing him back desperately. John clutched Alex’s sweatshirt, pressing in closer to him before releasing what he was doing and pushing away from him, stumbling backwards slightly. 

“What’re you doing?” John asked, breathless, glancing between Eliza and Alex. 

“Kissing you,” Alex said, heading tilting to the side slightly. 

“Why?” John asked, sounding a little nervous. 

“Because I wanted to,” Alex took a step towards him. “And Eliza wants to. That night a couple weeks ago was great and we wanted to do it again. This time when we weren't drunk and can better enjoy it.”

John swallowed, glancing between the couple. Eliza was watching him with a patient and open expression, not pushing him but clearly inviting. Alex had a bit more eager look, continuing to move a bit closer to John. 

“No pressure, John,” Eliza said gently just as Alex was close enough to touch. “If you don't want this then we won't ever bring it up again.”

“No pressure,” Alex agreed softly, reaching out and cupping John’s cheek. John closed his eyes for a minute before leaning into Alex’s hand, nodding slightly. “You want this?”

“Yeah,” John whispered, opening his eyes and smiling shyly at Alex. 

“Great,” Alex grinned. “Because all I've thought about for the past couple weeks is your cock.”

“Alex!” Eliza laughed, climbing off the couch and moving over to them. She reached out and brushed Alex’s hand away from John’s cheek, replacing it with her own hand and turning John to look at her. She smiled sweetly at him, leaning in and kissing him gently. John kissed her back, smiling into the kiss. 

“Come on,” Alex urged, grabbing both their hands. “Let’s go! I need to get fucked.”

“Alex,” John groaned, rolling his eyes at his best friend but not fighting as Alex dragged them to his bedroom. 

—

This time it was early enough that no one fell asleep afterwards. John allowed himself exactly one minute and thirty seconds to bask in the afterglow of what was admittedly an amazing fuck before sitting up and climbing out of the bed. Alex and Eliza both grumbled as he dislodged them from his sides.

“Where're you going?” Alex grabbed at him, managing to tangle their fingers together. 

“Food,” was all John said as he pulled his hand away from Alex’s and going to gather his clothes. He grabbed his boxers and pants, pulling them on quickly. Eliza and Alex had shifted together on the bed, curling into each other. John glanced over at them as he finished gather his things, heart clenching as it was once again made clear that Alex and Eliza didn't need him, that he was just an occasional distraction. He didn't bother pulling on his shirt, just bundled it in his arms before leaving, shutting Alex’s bedroom door behind him. Once his bedroom door was shut and locked he exhaled slowly, forcing away the tears. He dropped the t-shirt onto the floor before flopping down onto the bed and pressing his face into the pillows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor John. I'm so mean to him. When will I give him a break?


End file.
